6 min readKolkataNov 10, 2020 09:14 AM IST
First published on: Nov 9, 2020 at 08:39 PM IST
Belarus has been hit by protests since August after a disputed election allowed President Alexander Lukashenko a sixth term in office. However, over the past few days, these protests have gained momentum after exiled opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya called for a nationwide strike, demanding Lukashenko’s resignation. The president, for his part, has ignored these calls for resignation and has instead unleashed local police on protesters, hundreds of whom have been detained following public demonstrations.
What is happening in Belarus?
Thousands of people have been protesting for weeks in the streets of Minsk, the capital city. A BBC report in September had suggested that smaller towns and cities had also witnessed protests, albeit on a smaller scale. These protests are a result of public anger and the belief that Lukashenko tampered with votes during these contentious elections to hold on to power.
Demonstrators with old Belarusian national flags march during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. (AP Photo)
Calls for Lukashenko’s ouster are rooted in complaints of corruption, poverty, a lack of employment opportunities in Belarus, all compounded by the government’s mishandling of the coronavirus outbreak. In addition to unleashing police upon protesters, Lukashenko has also urged his own supporters to hold public rallies, but these have been much smaller in scale in comparison.
What is the most recent development?
Over the past two weeks, many citizens have heeded Tikhanovskaya’s calls for a nationwide strike. At the forefront of this ongoing strike are mainly students and factory workers who have taken to the streets to protest. According to a BBC report, workers at government-run factories have put down their tools and have been protesting outside the factory gates. Students have been exiting university campuses and marching in large groups.
On October 25, Belarus’ interior ministry had said the police had arrested 523 people during mass demonstrations against the government. The next day, the BBC reported that at least 155 more people were arrested in Minsk, Borisov, Brest, Grodno, Mogilev and Novopolotsk for participating in these protests. 📣 Express Explained is now on Telegram
Will US election results have any impact?
A day after results of the US elections were called by the Associated Press in favour of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, thousands of protesters from across Belarus tried to enter central Minsk but were prevented by riot police, news reports said. According to a report by DW, human rights organisation Viasna said 830 citizens were detained this past weekend, including prominent public figures like model Olga Khizhinkova, a former Miss Belarus.
After the results came out, Tikhanovskaya, who has sought refuge in Lithuania, took to Twitter to congratulate Biden and thanked him for his “solidarity”.
During the campaign trail for the 2020 US elections, Biden had openly expressed support for the anti-government protests in Belarus and had called Lukashenko’s rule illegitimate and had published at least two posts on social media in support of the Belarusian protests.
“Although President Trump refuses to speak out on their behalf, I continue to stand with the people of Belarus and support their democratic aspirations,” Biden had said in a statement on his official campaign website. “I also condemn the appalling human rights abuses committed by the Lukashenko regime.”
“No leader who tortures his own people can ever claim legitimacy.…I will continue to join Svetlana Tikhanovskaya and the people of Belarus in calling for the peaceful transfer of power, the release of all political prisoners, and free and fair elections so the Belarusian people are finally able to exercise the democratic rights for which they have sacrificed so much,” Biden’s statement had said.
Now with the hope of a new government in the US in January, Tikhanovskaya and protesters may be looking for assistance from the Biden-Harris government to put pressure on Lukashenko to give up control of the government in Belarus. If the Biden-Harris government were to act upon Tikhanovskaya’s calls for assistance, it would be in addition to recent action initiated by the European Union and Canada.
The action was the latest by Belarusian authorities against journalists and news media amid the wave of large protests that have occurred almost daily since the country’s authoritarian president won a sixth term in a disputed August 9 election. (AP Photo/TUT.by)
This past week, the European Union officially imposed sanctions on Lukashenko and blacklisted his 44-year-old son Viktor, who serves as Lukashenko’s security adviser. Under the terms of these sanctions, Lukashenko and his son are now banned from obtaining EU visas and their assets in the European Union have been blocked. At least 59 people in the Belarus government have been put under sanctions as of November 6, according to a DW report.
On Friday, Canada had announced that it too was imposing sanctions on Belarusian government officials, although it was not clear whether Lukashenko himself was included in this list.
Thousands of people have been protesting for weeks in the streets of Minsk, the capital city. 
Demonstrators with old Belarusian national flags march during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. (AP Photo)
The action was the latest by Belarusian authorities against journalists and news media amid the wave of large protests that have occurred almost daily since the country’s authoritarian president won a sixth term in a disputed August 9 election. (AP Photo/TUT.by)
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